


You're the Only Reason (I Keep On Coming Home)

by wolfpackof1



Category: Psych (TV 2006)
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-20
Updated: 2020-01-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:27:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22326310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wolfpackof1/pseuds/wolfpackof1
Summary: "Did you hear about the cider shortage?""Shawn, what are you talking about?""I don't know - I just heard it was a pressing issue. Get it, Jules? Like how you press apples for cider?"
Relationships: Juliet O'Hara/Shawn Spencer
Comments: 3
Kudos: 27





	You're the Only Reason (I Keep On Coming Home)

He sits perched atop the ladder, 9 feet in the air, the view of the valley spread before his eyes.

“Magical,” Shawn Spencer says, before noisily biting into a Gala apple.

“Hey,” comes the indignant cry, from a ladder propped on an adjacent tree. “Stop eating our wages.”

Shawn laughs. “Oh, my misled friend,” he says. “This apple is not my paycheck. This - very specific - apple is my company bonus.”

From the other ladder, Gus snorts.

When Shawn and Gus had begun the life of migrant fruit pickers three years ago, Shawn’s dad Henry had scoffed derisively. Sure, the idea sounded good, but he had never seen his son follow through on anything in his life. And that included bowls of Froot Loops.

So it was much to Henry’s surprise that Shawn and his best friend Burton Guster were still going strong three years later as migrant fruit pickers - apples in the Northeast every fall, Florida oranges in the winter and spring, and strawberries back in New England in the summers. This autumn, Shawn and Gus were beginning their first season with O’Hara Orchards in upstate New York.

It didn’t hurt either that Shawn and Gus combined brought in about $500 a day during apple season. They were, of course, the best there was.

“You two! Up there giggling and gossiping like school girls! Get your asses back to work!” And that, of course, was Lassie.

Carlton Lassiter was the field boss for O’Hara Orchards. He was extremely no nonsense and extremely quick to discipline.

He was also extremely against the nickname Lassie, which Shawn was already taking great pleasure in calling him since they had met two days previously.

Nevertheless, Gus and Shawn continued to pull down apples for the rest of the day under the still-hot September sun. At 6pm, the whistle blew, signaling time for all the apple pickers to quit for the day.

They piled in the back of Lassie’s old Ford pickup and bounced over the hills back to the workers quarters, which were a cluster of tiny bed-and-bathroom cabins behind the cider mill.

“Everybody out,” Lassie called, and they hopped onto the grass. The sound of doors slamming filled the air as Lassie drove away and the group of mostly men entered their cabins, ready to go to sleep for a few hours, wake up, and do it again the next day.

Rinse, recycle, repeat. For the next seven days, Shawn and Gus worked themselves to exhaustion everyday, then woke up at the crack of dawn to do it again the next day. Finally it was their day off.

Shawn celebrated by sleeping until 10am. He and Gus went out for a pancake breakfast at the diner in the nearby town. They would have explored the area more, but there was really nothing there. So they headed back to the orchards where Shawn decided he would do a bit of exploring.

“This is a bad idea Shawn,” Gus told him as they crept into the cider mill. “We are most definitely not supposed to be here.” The mill was in a huge barn, probably three stories tall and completely open up to the ceiling, where dusty windows filtered in the bright daylight. The machinery was not working today and Shawn stared in awe at the giant crusher, the massive press, and the hundreds and hundreds of empty bottles in crates waiting to be filled in a few days - likely with apples that he and Gus had picked. Being part of such a mammoth process humbled Shawn.

Well, for a minute anyway. 

As they were exiting the mill’s back door toward their cabins, a flash of bright hair caught Shawn’s eye. He whipped his head around and saw the back of a woman - black rubber boots, blonde hair, dark jacket with the orchard’s logo on the back - and then she was gone, disappearing through a door he hadn’t previously noticed. Shawn was immediately on high alert.

“Hey, I didn’t know any hot girls worked here,” he commented to Gus, craning his neck and trying to get a better view of the door she had left through.

“What are you talking about,” Gus said, exasperated. “I did not see any girls today besides Marta.”

Marta was, of course, the middle aged tank of a woman who had glared into Shawn’s eyes on their first day and vowed to outpick him if it was the last thing she did.

Shawn was a little bit attracted to her. But not as much as he was to this theoretical mystery woman who might also be a ghost.

“We should figure out where she went,” Shawn told Gus, crossing the wide plank floor of the mill toward the unknown door. But when they tried the knob, it was locked. There was no following her - Shawn’s best hope for seeing her again lay in waiting around the cider mill night and day until she returned. Which he planned to do, until -

“Shawn, let’s go. It’s already after 7 and we have work in the morning.” Gus dragged Shawn by the arm out of the mill barn and back to their individual cabins. They said good night and Shawn turned in, laying on his thin uncomfortable mattress until way too late thinking about the girl.

Shawn awoke early the next morning at the sound of the bell, plucked fresh from a dream in which he and Marta were - well, the less said about it the better.

He was up on the ladder against a tree of Honeycrisps when he saw Lassie’s truck go by. Perched on the tailgate, black rubber boots dangling was a woman -  _ the _ woman. Without thinking, Shawn yelled “Hey!”

The woman looked up in his direction, and he could just barely make out her squinting back at him as the truck bounced away over the hill.

“What are you doing?” asked Gus. “Who are you even talking to?”

“It was her, Gus!”

“Uh, who?”

Shawn sighed. Gus was not going to believe this one. “The, uh, ghost from the cider mill?”

“Shawn, I have half a mind to drop this ladder. Get your ass back to work.”

From the next tree over, Marta threw an apple at him.

Another three days passed before Shawn saw the woman again. He was in the farm store/headquarters picking up his and Gus’ paychecks when he felt someone watching him. He looked up and saw the woman leaning on the doorway to the pie room, crunching on an apple.

“Sup,” said Shawn eloquently.

She gave him a look. “Sup,” she said, with air quotes.

“You new around here baby? Cause let me tell you -” He was interrupted by a loud snort coming from the cashier behind him.

“No, let him finish,” the woman said to the cashier. She looked vaguely amused - time for Shawn to go in for the kill (so to speak). “What were you going to say?” She raised an eyebrow.

Shawn’s brain was going a mile a minute. He knew he had to choose his next words very, very carefully.

“Aw, well - if you were an apple, I’d pick you.”

Silence in the room. Shawn looked at the woman. The cashier looked at the woman. The woman looked at Shawn, narrowing her eyes. He felt himself blush. “What did you say your name was?”

“I, uh, didn’t. Its, uh, Shawn. Shawn Spencer.”

“Well, Shawn Spencer,” she said slowly, and damn if he didn’t just love the sound of his name on her lips, “you just went redder than a Pink Lady.” Shit. That was rough. The woman walked toward him, hips swaying slightly, looking hotter than anybody had any business looking in rubber boots. She flicked the zipper on his hoodie. “How do you like them apples, boy?”

  
  


Shawn blacked out for a second and by the time he was sentient again, the woman had left.

“Who on earth is she?” he asked out loud, not really directing the question at anyone. The cashier answered anyway.

“That, my friend, is Juliet. Juliet O’Hara.”

Shit. Even Shawn knew when he was in way, way over his head.

He meandered back towards the cabins, deep in thought. Gus yelling brought him out of his reverie. “Shawn, what are you doing? You left to get our paychecks an hour ago! The bank is going to close! Why do you look like someone just hit you over the head with a ladder?”

Shawn chuckled. “My friend, I think I met the girl of my dreams.”

“Oh no,” Gus said. “Please tell me she’s not a ghost.”

For the next few days Shawn took every opportunity possible to hang out around Lassie, which, in his mind, was his track to meeting Juliet again.

Lassie did not like this. To put things lightly.

“Spencer, I swear, if I turn around one more time and find you leaning on my truck I am going to run you over.”

“Well Lassie, I can promise you that you won’t do that for a few reasons. 1. My rugged good looks. 2. I’m your best picker. And 3. I know a very fetching young woman who will not allow you to do so.”

Lassie growled at Shawn, “Is that so? And who might she be?”

Shawn smirked. “Let’s just say I personally know Juliet O’Hara.”

“Is that so?” The voice came from behind him. He whipped around to see Juliet looking very sexy as she brandished a dangerous looking shovel.

“You think I’m fetching, huh?” she asked, and once again Shawn knew he was on thin ice and had to tread carefully. 

“Juliet,” said Shawn fervently, a hand over his heart, “you’re simply the apple of my eye.”

For the briefest of seconds, he thought she might be about to laugh, in which case he knew he was in. But her face turned cold again, and she breezed past him silently on her way back to the barn.

Shawn turned to watch her go (hey, no crime in that, right?) and came face to face with Gus, who did not look pleased.

“Don’t tell me.” 

“Gus, it is not that simple -”

“Well Shawn, while you were having a disaster of a romantic interval, we lost three trees. To Marta, no less. You need to get back out there and forget about her.”

Shawn did get back out there, and they ended up with more trees than Marta by end of day. But he did not - could not - forget about Juliet. 

As he lay down his uncomfortable mattress, alone in his tiny cabin, she consumed his thoughts. How could he engineer another meeting?

The perfect opportunity presented itself the next day. Lassie directed Shawn to bring an Empire down to the cider mill to see if they were ready for squishing. He quietly entered the huge barn, which had a cathedral-like feeling, and crept toward the press until a creaky board beneath his boots betrayed his presence. Immediately the press operator poked a head out from the other side of the massive machine.

It was Juliet.

And this time, it was just the two of them.

“Hey, did you hear about the cider shortage?” Shawn asked.

Juliet walked towards him, then stopped. “No, I didn’t. What are you talking about?”

“Well, I don’t know, but I heard it was a  _ pressing _ issue.” He paused. “Get it?”

She was close enough now that he could see her roll her eyes. Good, he thought. Well, better than a slap across the face anyway.

“What are you doing here, Shawn Spencer?” she asked.

He held out the Empire, for once in his life serious. “Lassie said you would know if these are ready for cider.”

Juliet burst out laughing. “You call him Lassie?”

“Yeah, I -”

“That’s super funny.”

And finally Shawn relaxed a little. He had made her laugh. Wasn’t that all he wanted?

If he was honest with himself, no. Shawn didn’t notice girls often, not the way Gus did. Desire was a foreign feeling to him, specifically his very specific desire for Juliet. He didn’t even know her, really. What was it about her that enticed him so?

She took the apple out of his hand and held it up, so the dark red skin could gleam in the light from the high windows. Her face was thoughtful.

“What - uh, what are you waiting for the apple to do?” Shawn asked, and Juliet laughed again. God, that was nice.

“Nothing. Just making sure the color is good and the surface firm.”

Shawn was trying to act like his true silly self, but suddenly he felt himself overcome with anxiety. How did Gus do this whole talking-to-girls thing so easily?

He left the cider mill barn without saying goodbye.

Later that night, Gus and Shawn sat on chairs outside their adjacent tiny cabins, watching the sun set over the mountains.

“You’re quiet,” Gus said. “You’re never quiet. What’s going on?”

Shawn shrugged and made some kind of noise, and realization dawned on Gus’ face as the shadows grew higher and night fell. “This is about the girl, isn’t it Shawn.”

Shawn opened his mouth to start denying, but found that he couldn’t. “I - yeah, it is,” he said defeatedly. “How do you do it, Gus? Just talk to girls and have them like you back?”

Gus’s expression softened. “You really like her, don’t you,” he said.

Shawn nodded and looked away.

“Shawn,” Gus said. “Look at me.” Tentatively, Shawn turned his head back to face his best friend.

“You’re a catch, Shawn,” Gus told him. “And as far as advice, don’t try to be anyone that you’re not. If she’s the right one, she’ll like you for you.”

Gus’ words were still in Shawn’s mind as he fell asleep. Could she really like him - the real him? And what would happen if she did? They were questions he didn’t have the answers to. Still, that night his dreams were full of Juliet.

The next day Lassie was sick, and Juliet was out in the fields with the crew all day, driving the truck and overseeing things. 

Shawn kept stealing glances at her, through the leaves of the trees. She was dressed in her normal outfit - jeans, rubber boots, and her black hoodie with the orchard’s logo on the back. He couldn’t be sure, but he thought maybe a time or two she had been looking back in his direction. 

Of course, there was a chance she was just monitoring the situation between Gus and Shawn and Marta, who was hell-bent on their destruction. 

“Marta,” Shawn called in a sing song voice, “You know, if you want Gus’s attention, you should just ask him out.”

Shawn was quickly pummeled by apples from both directions, but from the truck he could hear Juliet stifling a laugh. Oh, that was sweet.

By the end of the day everyone was exhausted, and piled into the back of the truck for the ride back down the hill. Juliet caught Shawn’s eye. “Ride up front?” she asked. She sounded almost shy.

Shawn jumped at the chance. He hopped into the passenger seat of the old truck and Juliet started it up. Her hair was outlined by the gold of the setting sun. Driving like this, Shawn could almost pretend there weren’t 12 other people in the back of the truck.

“So, Shawn,” she began. “Tell me. What brought you to O’Hara Orchards?”

“Heard there was a beautiful girl working there.” She looked across the bench seat at him with a “Really?” expression.

“Gus and I are migrant workers - it’s what we’ve been doing for a while now. O’Hara made us the best apple season offer this year.”

“Dad usually does,” she said quietly as they pulled up to the barn. “Well, Shawn - I’m glad he did.” Her smile glowed as night began to fall, and Shawn felt like his feet barely touched the ground all the way back to his cabin.

In the morning, the crew woke to find that Lassie was still sick and Juliet would be overseeing again for the day.

Under the pretenses of bringing over a sample, Shawn found Juliet picking Macouns in a secluded area. His heart began to pitter patter.

“Hey,” he said casually. “How about them apples?”

Juliet looked over at him seriously, then began to giggle. “Honestly, Shawn, it’s every day with you.”

He hoped fiercely that was a good thing. Instead, all he said was, “Well, I just think that as a farmer, you’re  _ outstanding _ in your field.”

She shook her head in disbelief as she began to laugh harder. “God, Shawn,” she breathed. “Where do you even get these?”

“It’s a gift,” he replied. “Do you need some help over here?”

Juliet sized him up momentarily, then nodded. “I’m taking samples to make sure they’re ready,” she told him. “You can take soil samples, if you want.” She handed him some baggies and a shovel.

They worked a few hours, until the whistle sounded for lunch. “Shoot,” said Shawn. “I left mine over by the truck.”

“No problem,” Juliet said sweetly. “Share mine.”

So they each had half a turkey sandwich, and some carrot sticks, and a handful of raspberries, and a number of Macouns.

“These berries are simply breathtaking,” said Shawn, half-joking but seriously appreciative.

“You like them?” Juliet seemed shy suddenly.

Shawn smiled. “Never have I had a more exemplary berry.”

“Well,” Juliet said, “if you want, there’s more where those came from.” And she stood up and started down one of the rows. A couple trees in, she looked back. “Are you coming?”

In that moment Shawn knew he would follow her anywhere.

He wasn’t sure what to expect at this point - she was clearly giving off signals, right? - but at the end of the row was a huge patch of raspberry bushes.

She handed him a small carton. “Start picking,” she told him.

They picked for about an hour. Every few minutes or so Shawn would say, “Sample!” and Juliet would toss a berry in his direction to catch in his mouth.

The berries were sweet. But her laugh every time he caught one - and every time he missed - was even sweeter.

It was nearing end of day when Juliet called in his direction, “Sample!” Shawn looked over in her direction and wound up to throw. Instead, she half-smiled and curled a finger for him to come to her.

Heart racing, he wound his way through the bushes until he reached her. He began to hold the berry out for her to take but she stopped him, pointing to her open mouth.

Oh shit. Shawn was freaking out. He crept closer to Juliet with the berry until they were less than a foot apart. Gingerly, he dropped the raspberry onto her waiting tongue. She took it in her mouth and swallowed.

“Mmmm,” she said in a low voice. Shawn about lost his mind. The situation was so far out of his comfort zone - and yet exactly where he wanted to be. He started to think, WWGD - then remembered his friend’s words.  _ Don’t try to be anyone you’re not. _

“Hey Juliet,” he whispered, and saw her eyes get dark. “What did one raspberry say to the other?”

Her expression was somewhere between aroused and amused. “What, Shawn?”

“If you weren’t so sweet, we wouldn’t be in this jam.”   
  


She smirked, punching his arm gently. Her touch electrified him. “Well, uh, would you look at the time,” Shawn said. “Best be getting back to the truck.”

He thought he caught disappointment on her face before her features rearranged. “Of course,” she said. “I’ll meet you back there.”

Shawn walked by himself back down the rows until he finally found Gus, who was of course livid. Shawn tried to explain his encounter with Juliet to him.

“We were just goofing around, throwing raspberries,” he told Gus. “Then, I don’t know what happened. I gave her one, and it made me feel all strange inside.”

“Well, Shawn, when a man is attracted to a woman -”

Shawn smacked his friend. “I know that. This was different, though.”

“Bad?” asked Gus.

“Definitely not,” said Shawn. “Just - deeper.”

Gus got an obnoxious look on his face that told Shawn he knew something Shawn didn’t know. “Alright, my friend,” Gus said. “Well, I suppose we will just see what happens.”

That night they sat outside their cabins again after cooking dinner in the communal kitchen. The sky was dark earlier than usual, clouds moving fast and a warm wind picking up. A figure was approaching from the direction of the barn. As it got closer, Shawn recognized the boots and hair of Juliet.

“Howdy,” Shawn said, trying to play it cool. Gus snorted.

Juliet came up to the pair of them and put her hands on her hips. “Mind if I sit?” she asked.

“Please do,” said Gus.

She plopped down in the grass next to Shawn’s chair and looked up at him. He still didn’t know what to say. What was she doing out there?

“I just wanted to come hang out with you guys,” Juliet explained somewhat vaguely. “And - yeah.” Was she nervous? Shawn was nervous, but he thought he detected a touch of nervousness from Juliet too.

He wondered what she possibly could have had to be nervous about.

The three of them talked a little, mostly Gus and Juliet, light conversation about how the season was going and what they could expect from the last couple weeks. Shawn felt like things were going pretty well, and that he definitely had more material for his dreams later that night. It was all super regular, until it began to rain.

The rain came down as a torrent, all at once, and Gus yelped and beelined back to his cabin. Shawn thought he should head to his too, but how could he leave Juliet outside in this?

In a split second, his decision was made. “Come on,” he told Juliet, taking her hand. “We have to get inside.” And he led her up the steps and into his cabin.

Once inside, they stood there shivering from the cold downpour. Shawn went to the closet and started to get out every towel he could find.

Gratefully, Juliet took a stack and began patting down her wet clothes. She was still shivering. “Would you - do you want to change into something dry?” Shawn offered hesitantly.

Juliet nodded.

Shawn went back to the closet and found sweatpants and a sweatshirt, then pointed Juliet in the direction of the bathroom. She went in to change and Shawn found himself dry clothes as well. In his tiny bedroom, he changed into a t-shirt and sweatpants. Then he sat down on the bed and began to process.

_ OK, _ he thought.  _ OK. Juliet is here. In my cabin. Wearing my clothes. It is raining outside. These are facts, _ he told himself. He started to think about his next move, then stopped himself.

Tonight, he wasn’t going to overthink, he decided. He was just going to be himself.

Juliet came out of the bathroom wearing his slightly too-big clothes. She was beautiful. Shawn patted the bed next to him, and she came over and sat down.

“Howdy,” he said again, softly. She smiled.

“Howdy,” she said back.

“Quite the storm,” Shawn commented. Juliet just looked at him. He continued. “Might as well stay in here and ride it out.”

She nodded, looked at him curiously for half a second, then crawled up the uncomfortable mattress and settled herself laying on one of the thin pillows.

“Turn out the light,” she whispered to Shawn. He got up and flipped the switch. “Now come here,” she told him, and he was drawn to her like a magnet.

They lay in the dark, on top of the blankets, facing each other but not touching. Shawn could hear her breathing, smell her scent faintly. It was driving him crazy.

“Shawn,” she whispered. 

Shawn could see the whites of her eyes as a bright spot in the dark, catching on a faint and distant light. “Do you want to get under the blankets?”

Outside, the rain still poured, coming down loudly against the cabin’s roof.

“Sure,” she breathed. She shifted so that she could crawl under the multitude of of scratchy wool blankets which Shawn had found in the closet for the cool northeastern nights. Shawn did the same, without taking his eyes off her shape in the darkness.

“Shawn,” Juliet whispered again once they were settled. “Come closer.”

It took a moment for Shawn to remember to breathe. When he finally did get some air, there was no relief. He could smell her sweetness everywhere around him and knew (hoped) that it would linger on sheets for days to come.

He scooted the tiniest bit closer to Juliet, but even that was enough for him to touch the ends of her hair on the pillow.  _ His _ pillow. Her hand reached out and landed on his arm (was she feeling his bicep?), causing Shawn to jump slightly.

“Didn’t mean to scare you,” Juliet said quietly. “Just - I don’t know. I - yeah.”

“Jules,” Shawn whispered, and he felt her shiver at the nickname. “Relax. You know I find you most ap-peel-ing, right?” He held his breath, waiting for her reaction to both his pun and his confession.

Juliet snorted softly, and took the hand from his arm to lightly punch him. “Yeah, yeah. Any more you need to get out?”

“Not at all. I am apple-solutely out of words right now.”

She groaned at that one, and the sound turned Shawn on more than he would care to admit. His brain was going a mile a minute, thinking about how he could get her to make that noise again.

Meanwhile, Juliet was shifting around on her side of the bed. It took Shawn a moment to realize that she was removing his sweatshirt. Damn. He had put that sweatshirt on her on purpose - to cover as much of her skin as possible so as not to tempt his thoughts. But it seemed like Juliet might have some thoughts of her own.

With his eyes adjusted to the dimness in the room Shawn could see her pale skin, interrupted only by a small bra. Juliet wasn’t busty by any means, which was just fine with him.

“Shawn,” Juliet said in a quiet, earnest voice. “Hold me?” She flipped over so her back was to Shawn’s front, and he hesitated no more than a half-inch before wrapping his arm over her body and pulling her in close.

Juliet sighed pleasantly, and Shawn’s stomach flipped. “Good night, Shawn,” she whispered, tracing a pattern on his arm.

“Night, Jules.”

There was no way he was getting any sleep tonight.

Somehow, though, he must have fallen asleep because he woke up to an empty bed. He hadn’t dreamed at all - in fact, his sleep had been peaceful and quiet. The only evidence of last night was the scent of Juliet all over his sheets.

As the sun was beginning to peek over the horizon, there was a loud banging on Shawn’s door. “What?” he called. “I’m coming.” He dragged himself out of bed and opened the door to find Gus.

“Man, what happened last night? Tell me everything!”

“Well,” Shawn began, “since you so kindly left us out there in the rain, I took one for the team and invited Jules to come into my cabin.”

“Hmmm. The only team you took one for was your own,” Gus remarked.

“Oh?”

Gus narrowed his eyes. “Don’t play with me, Shawn. I saw her leaving here right at dawn.”

“What are you asking, Gus?” Shawn acted like he didn’t already know.

“What happened last night? I already asked you!”

Shawn sighed. “Gus. A lady never kisses and tells. And I am not a lady. And….we also did not kiss,” he finished lamely.

Gus punched his shoulder. “You are out of your mind, Shawn Spencer,” Gus told him. “Sleeping with -” “ _ Next _ to,” Shawn interjected “-  _ next _ to the top bosses daughter? Who knows what kind of trouble that’s going to get us in?”

The trouble didn’t find them as soon as Gus had expected, although it was more upfront that Shawn had thought. At the end of a long Thursday, Lassie pulled in the crew for an unexpected team meeting.

“It has come to the attention of myself and some of the more senior staff -” Lassie sniffed at his own self-importance “that there may be some ‘fraternizing’ among the crew.”

Shawn gulped. This was not good.

“Just so that you all know,” Lassie continued. “Any such activities are strictly prohibited at O’Hara Orchards. Anyone with a complaint to this policy may come directly to me. Do I make myself clear?”

Marta raised her hand. “Does this mean no screwing coworkers?” she asked in her trademark blunt manner.

Lassie went red. “Yes, that is exactly what this means.”

“Well, you need to tell Shawn that. He’s had his eye on me from day one and frankly, I don’t trust the little shit.”

“First of all, Marta, if I was in love with you, believe me, you’d know it. And secondly, my affections are already taken by -”

“By who?” A new voice had entered the circle. Shawn spun around and saw Juliet standing next to Lassie, hand on her hip, aviator sunglasses on so he couldn’t read her expression.

“By….Gus,” Shawn spluttered. Gus stepped back, hands in the air. “Shawn, do not drag me into your inter-office romance.”

“Juliet,” Lassie said brusquely. “I was just making it clear to the crew that they are not to have any relationships.”

“Oh really? And I suppose this has nothing to do with your broken heart from a certain person from last year’s crew?” 

Lassie practically growled at Juliet. “Marlowe had - I mean, I don’t get broken hearts. Meeting adjourned.” And he stomped back to the truck. People started dispersing.

“Shawn.” He whipped around. Juliet was standing there, sunglasses pushed up to reveal the earnest look on her face. “I was hoping we could talk.”

“Okay,” he said. “Where did you go?”

“Look, Shawn, Lassie is wrong about a lot of things - almost everything, in fact. But it’s true that my dad would not be happy about a - a relationship between us. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

Shawn frowned. “Yes. Clearly.”

Juliet went on. “It’s just - he knows what the migrant worker lifestyle is like. He knows you’re leaving in a few days. And that you would be leaving behind any such...attachments. Does that make sense?”

It did, somewhat, but it was definitely not what Shawn wanted to hear.

“I don’t mean to seem callus. But you’ll be gone soon, Shawn. And who knows if we’ll ever see each other again?” Juliet sighed heavily. “That’s why I left. I knew that if I woke up there, next to you - well, I never would have been able to let you leave.”

Her voice cracked slightly, and Shawn looked at her downcast eyes. He thought he might see - was that a hint of a tear?

Everyone had already gone back to the rows they were working, and there was no one else in sight. It was this that gave Shawn the courage to tip Juliet’s face up to his own and lean in close. “Just say the word, Jules. Say the word and I’ll stay if - if you really believe that there’s something between us.”

She looked up into his eyes. He could see the indecision, the insecurity written across her face. He knew she was considering his offer, seriously. And yet -

“I can’t,” she said finally. “I don’t...I just can’t.”

“OK,” said Shawn, “OK. I get it. But can I make you a deal?”

“When the season ends, you and I can talk and email while Gus and I are in Florida. We come back north around the middle of May. I’ll come pay a visit, and if the spark is still there then we come back here for the fall and at the end of the season I don’t leave. How does that sound?”

Juliet looked hopeful. “You really mean it?”

“Absolutely, my Pink Lady,” Shawn responded, and was rewarded with Juliet’s giggle through her tears. “Come here, Jules.” He opened his arms and she leaned into his body.

Well. That felt - better than good, really. Shawn held her tight as she buried her face in his neck. She smelled kind of fresh, like cider and dirt and hay. He tilted his head down to kiss her super soft on the top of her head. When his lips touched her hair, he felt her hum in his embrace.

This time it was Shawn’s turn to sigh heavily. He knew it would be highly difficult to leave her. He could only hope she would still be interested in the spring.

That night, sitting out by their cabins, Gus built a small fire and he and Shawn started breaking down the day.

“I don’t know if I have a chance, Gus,” Shawn said. “I’ve never felt this way before. Not even close.”

“Shawn, do you remember what I told you weeks ago? To just be yourself?” Gus asked. Shawn nodded.

“Well, I think you’ve said what you can. It’s up to her now. If she really likes you, you’ll know. Does that make sense?”

They sat out by the fire as the stars came out one by one. Tomorrow was their day off, and both were grateful for the opportunity to stay up late and sleep in even later. As the night grew deeper and the fire burned low, Gus stood up. “I’m beat, Shawn. Go to bed soon, OK? And don’t forget to put the fire out.” He turned and went into his cabin, leaving Shawn out there alone to contemplate.

He wasn’t alone for long, though. Rustling grass and what looked to be the light from a headlamp bobbing betrayed a figure coming towards Shawn in the darkness. As it came in close, he could tell it was Juliet. His heart started to race.

“Hi Shawn,” she said quietly, coming to sit next to him on the grass by the fire. She held her hands out to warm them by the flames for a few minutes, before either of them had something else to say.

“Shawn -”

“Jules, I -” They spoke at the same time, and she laughed. Shawn felt a pleasant shiver run up his spine.

“You go first,” he said graciously.

“It’s nothing, really. I was just wondering if you maybe wanted to…”

Shawn looked over at her - Juliet’s face was turned down, and he thought he could see her cheeks becoming a little pink.

“Jules. I wouldn’t normally do this. But I have to ask -”

She frowned. “Wait, what do you mean you wouldn’t normally do this?” Shawn’s heart sank. Great. Now she really was going to ditch him.

“I just mean - Jules, I mean that - well, I’ve never felt like this about anyone before.”

Juliet snorted. “You’ve come up with some pretty good lines, Shawn, but this one outdoes yourself.”

“No, it’s not - I didn’t mean it like that. What I meant was, Jules, I’ve never in my life had a relationship like this with a woman.”

She looked confused. “A relationship like what?”

“A relationship where - well, I feel like you can really see me. And I want you to. And - I just want you. I don’t know. I’m not making any sense, am I?”

Juliet seemed like she was holding her breath. When she let it out, it was to say, “What did you have to ask?”

“If you’d wait for me.”

That did not seem to be what Juliet was expecting. “Shawn, I -”

“Hear me out,” he said. “I wasn’t having flings or relationships with women before I met you. And...I don’t even know what you want to call it. This thing, that’s between us. So I will wait for you - forever, if I have to. But I know it’s a lot to ask if - if you would wait for me until spring.”

Shawn was out of breath and felt emotionally wrung out after his declaration. He was waiting with bated breath to hear what Juliet had to say.

She didn’t answer for a long time while looking at his face. “Shawn,” she finally said.

“Yeah?”

“Kiss me.”

Like Gus going at a poached egg with hollandaise sauce on an English muffin, Shawn did not need to be told twice.

Shawn dipped his head down to Juliet’s head and captured her lips with his own. The kiss was simple, sweet and uncomplicated - just as he wished things between them were. Juliet’s arms were around his neck, touching his hair, his shirt, his back under his shirt...Shawn shivered at that. For her part, Juliet felt so, so good. She was soft and warm and very receptive to him grabbing her waist.

Once they finally broke apart, both breathing heavily, Shawn asked boldly, “Do you want to come inside?”

Juliet paused for one heart stopping second, then tilted her forehead into Shawn’s. “Hell yeah,” she whispered.

The fall night was not as warm as it had been weeks earlier, and the cabin was freezing when they got inside after putting out the fire. Juliet sat right down on the bed and wrapped the blanket around herself.

“Do you need anything?” Shawn asked. “Sweater? Another blanket? Water?”

She smiled sweetly. “Just you.”

Shawn came to sit beside her on the bed, and she let him into the blanket cocoon. They huddled close for warmth - at least, that’s what they were telling themselves.

“What made you change your mind?” Shawn asked.

Juliet looked pensive. “I didn’t feel right after our conversation earlier. I knew it was the ‘smart’ or the ‘right’ thing to do, telling you this couldn’t go any further. But I couldn’t do that to my heart.”

Shawn turned to her, blanket around his shoulders, and kissed her tenderly. “Thank your heart for me,” he said jokingly.

“Thank it yourself.” Juliet winked, tossed off the blanket and pulled off her shirt. The girl really did like being topless, Shawn thought to himself. He pulled the blanket out from under her and wrapped it further over his own back, while laying Juliet down under him. Her hair was fanned out on his pillow, and she was glowing like a goddess.

“Jules,” Shawn whispered.

“Yeah?”

“I’m going to kiss you now,” he told her. He lowered his face to hers and kissed passionately. This kiss felt different from the others they had shared. Shawn felt like he put his whole faith in that kiss.

Juliet hummed again, and made a noise that could be construed as a soft moan. The noise fueled Shawn’s desire, and he left her lips to kiss her cheek, down her neck, the base of her shirt and her clavicle right by her bra strap. He wondered if this was OK - after all, he didn’t have much to compare it to.

“Don’t stop,” said Juliet, and he didn’t.

Eventually the bra came off and Shawn ogled her bare chest for far longer than was strictly necessary. This, he knew was what he had been missing all along.  _ Her _ .

His kisses dipped lower, across her stomach and lower still. Was he doing this right? By the sounds Juliet was making, he judged he must be at least close.

After she came, making the most glorious face he could ever picture, Shawn crawled back up her body and laid a gentle kiss on her forehead. Juliet sighed, and they laid so their heads were on the pillow and they were side by side facing each other.

“Hi,” she said, sounding almost shy for someone who had just had the other person’s head between their legs.

“Howdy,” Shawn whispered back, and she smiled.

“Do you want me to…” She gestured toward his lower half, where his pants were starting to strain at the seams.

“No,” Shawn said quickly. Juliet’s face fell a little, and he backed up. “Oh - no! I mean, no, you don’t have to do that for me. You don’t have to do anything to me, if you don’t want to. I just want to lay here with you, if that’s OK.”

“Next time, then,” Juliet grinned, and Shawn couldn’t help smiling too. 

“Will you be here in the morning?” Shawn asked tentatively.

She raised her eyebrows. “Will you?”

Both knew that they were really talking about Shawn leaving for the winter. Although going to Florida was part of the plan they had discussed, the idea of Shawn  _ not _ going was nevertheless on both their minds.

They kissed again, briefly - then Juliet murmured “We should get some rest.” Shawn turned out the light and they curled up together under the blanket - foreheads together, arms around each other, hearts in the middle.

In the morning, she was still there.

Shawn looked at Juliet peacefully sleeping in the blue light of early dawn. He kissed her once more on the forehead, then got up and began packing his things for departure tomorrow morning around this time.

Juliet stirred as he put his few possessions in his travel bag. “Hi,” he whispered.

“Are you packing for tomorrow?” she asked.

He nodded as her face fell. “I know, I know, it’s for the best and we’ll see each other again and all that. It’s just - I’m going to miss you, Shawn.”

Shawn crossed the tiny cabin in two strides and was on top of Juliet, supporting his weight with his arms and caging her in. She tilted her head up and they kissed for several moments, several long moments during which Shawn could hear fireworks going off in his head. God, how had he lived without this for so long? Why would he ever go back to living without this?

Juliet was the first to pull away. “I know. You have to get packed. Come by the farmstand later to say goodbye though, OK?”

With tears starting to form in his eyes, Shawn rolled off her and onto the bed, his back to her. She leaned over and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “See you later,” she whispered before letting herself out under a pale purple sky.

The rest of the day was fast for Shawn. He and Gus packed their bags, bribed Lassie for a ride to the airport in the old truck, and went down to the farmstand to pick up their last paychecks.

Juliet was already there. “Hi,” she said quietly. Her eyes looked red, and Shawn wondered if she had been crying too. She reached behind the register and pulled out two envelopes, one for Gus and one for Shawn.

Gus thanked her and turned to leave.

“Shawn,” she whispered, and he leaned in close. “Open it on the plane,” she told him.

He nodded, and started to walk away.

“Shawn,” she called after him, and his heart jumped to his throat.

“Yeah?” he asked.

There was a long pause, as if she was choosing her last words carefully.

“Have a safe flight.”


End file.
